The local assembly, the special presence of the Lord

Now tonight we're going to look at the subject of, I want to look at Matthew 18 and verses 15 through 20 in their context, but I also want to put that within the context of the special presence of the Lord, the authoritative presence of the Lord Jesus, and how that differs from the omnipresence of the Lord. And so we're going to turn to several passages, the first one being in John chapter 4. John chapter 4, verse 21, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. It is significant that this is the only time in the Bible where worship is linked with the Father.

Ye worship, ye know not what, and he's speaking in reference to the Samaritans, as opposed to the Jews. We, that is, we Jews, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Now did you notice the difference between those two lines? The line that preceded it and that line. If you'll notice, go back, the hour is coming, right? The hour cometh, it's not there yet, it's not there yet. Jerusalem was still the center.

The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. It's not here yet, but it's coming. Ye worship, ye know not what, but we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. That has always been true. God has always desired worship in spirit and in truth.

It's not something new. God never said in the past, well, you can worship me in spirit, but if you want to let go of the truth, that'll be okay. And He never said, now as long as you have the truth and your heart's not in it, that's not true.

That statement has always been true. In fact, God has at times in the past actually rejected the worship of the nation, even though they did it in form correctly, but their heart was far from Him. So one thing, in the one line, the Lord Jesus is referring to that which was to come.

When there will be locations apart from Jerusalem, all over the world. And those companies will be centers of worship. And they will worship in spirit and in truth.

So in one statement, He is removing it from the central place of Jerusalem. But He is not abdicating the fact that there will not be a place. There still will be a place.

But it will always be in spirit and in truth. For the Father, verse 23, when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him, God is a spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

That is an absolute necessity, or God will refuse that worship. You say, well doesn't it, as long as you're sincere, isn't that really all that matters? I mean, God, you know, nobody's perfect. That's the thinking that is not for the Bible.

As long as you're sincere, how many people are going to heaven because they're sincere? Nobody. They have to have the one who is the truth. How many people does God accept worship from who are in error? Is that worship? Even though they're sincere? If a person does what they want to, you see, the fact is, who are we worshiping? Who is receiving the worship? It's God.

And so it's not a matter of what we want to give, what we want to do, it's what God demands. It's what God requires. And that worship must be in spirit and in truth.

Now, let's go over to Hebrews chapter 13, and then we will turn to Matthew chapter 18. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 13. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him, without the camp bearing his reproach.

You are in the book of Hebrews in your Bible study. And so, am I correct, I think, right? So, as he sums up, the writer, of all these arguments, of all these statements that are very masterfully done, as he takes Old Testament events, truths, even personalities, he is going to center them all at the point of attraction, the point of direction, will be him, Christ. He is the reason that they are to leave all that, because he is the fulfillment of that.

He is the drawing, the magnet. And so he ends this book with this statement. Now let's go over to Matthew chapter 18.

Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15. Now this is very interesting, before we start reading this, you will understand that the Lord Jesus is speaking about something before it ever came to be. The Church was not yet in existence.

But so important is this subject that he is introducing it. And it's interesting that he is introducing it in the Gospel of Matthew. And it's only in the Gospel of Matthew.

And Matthew is the Gospel of the Kingdom. And the Kingdom is the government of God. The administration of God.

And that's why it appears in the Gospel of Matthew. Because what is going to happen is the King, who is basically the government of God, the government is centered in the King, so that where the King is, the Kingdom is. So he's leaving to go back to heaven.

But he's saying that where two or three are gathered together, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but there am I in the midst of them. And he is linking now heaven, as we'll read this here, with earth, in a synchronous, parallel as it were, associative authority. And he's saying you have every authority to do what you're doing because the Kingdom of God is established with you.

You are the administrative point on earth for me. And my presence, though I am in heaven, is also with you, strategically, specifically with you, as you carry out my government. It is the gate of heaven.

And so when you go to the Old Testament, the first mention of house of God is in connection with the gate of heaven. The gate was the place of administration. The gate was the place where business was contracted.

The gate was the place where public demonstrations of authority were displayed before the town. And so when you wanted to do significant business transactions, when there was something official that had to be done, it was done in the gate. The assembly is house of God, which is the gate of heaven.

Now keeping that in mind, we'll read the Lord's words. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. It's a fault.

If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. End of story. It's done.

That would be wonderful. But, if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church.

It's obvious that the church is larger than the man and the two or three witnesses. The church is not two or three. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen and a publican.

Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Now it is interesting that in this case the name of the Father is as well associated with what the Lord Jesus is saying in verse 19. There has been administration up to this point.

Everything that is being done though is ultimately linked that the Son may receive worship, that the Father may be glorified. So there are divine persons that are brought together here in this passage. But it is significant that it is the Son, the presence of the Son in the midst of these people.

These two or three. Now when we look at this subject, I'm just going to give you three headings. I want to notice when it comes to the assembly, the local assembly, number one, its existence is relational.

Its existence is relational. It's relational to the one in the midst. The very existence of an assembly depends on the Lord Jesus being in the midst of his people.

If he is not in the midst of his people, there is no gathering unto him. And so its very existence is relational. When an assembly is first formed, what is happening? People who are saved are drawn to the person of Christ.

They are drawn to him as the gathering center. We don't gather to each other, we gather unto him. Genesis 49, that sweeping statement of prophecy there as Jacob lines up his sons, but unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

And Hebrews 13, let us therefore go forth unto him so that everything is in him. The assembly exists because of him. Its existence is relational.

Its emphasis is scriptural. Its emphasis, the things that we do, how we gather, the activities, the events, all of it. We have one book alone to guide us and nothing else.

We reject everything else. And this book, the Bible, the word of God, must become absolutely paramount for everything that we do. So its emphasis is scriptural.

And lastly, its evidence is practical. So there will be a practical outworking in all that we're doing that will display the truth in the lives of God's people. And that is called testimony.

And the importance of testimony, of what we show. And we'll look at a few examples of that and the importance of that. The gathering center.

The gathering center exists basically, if you go to any particular time, and we went over that. We went back to the tabernacle. We went back to the Garden of Eden.

And we looked at different pictures of gathering centers. But it exists for representation. So that God is going to be represented there by that company in that gathering.

Therefore, it's incumbent upon us to represent him correctly. It's not a matter of what we think God is like. It's not a matter of what we want God to be like.

It is a matter of what God is as he unfolds through his word. It's not only a place of representation, it's a place of reflection. Because the gathering, and now I'm going to limit it now to the assembly, the assembly should be a place where not only the Lord manifests himself, but where we as well learn more of him.

Where we can reflect on him. And we can enjoy his presence and enjoy who he is in appreciation. It's a place for reflection.

It's a place of restriction. Because there are things that we will read, and discuss not only tonight, but in nights to come, where they are mutually exclusive with the world around us and with carnality that can be within us, and the flesh and so on. So there are restrictions.

Yet people say, wait a minute, are you telling me there's rules? Yeah, yeah, there are rules. Very clearly, there are rules. You say, well, wait a minute, isn't that legalism? No, no, that's legalism.

That's not legalism. There are clear rules, and there are consequences to breaking those rules. And I think it is incumbent upon leadership of an assembly that when individuals want to apply for fellowship, they should be made aware that there are things you can be put away from the assembly for.

And there are restrictions. And that if you want to maintain the fellowship that you would like to be part of, if you do those things, you will be denying the truth of this fellowship and what we are and what we do. Yeah, there are rules.

Very clearly. We're given a number of times in the New Testament, the will of God is, the will of God is, the will of God. So we're not left with any question on a number of things.

And then not only is there restriction, but there's responsibility, commitment. You members of the gathering, the assembly, the fellowship, must be willing to shoulder responsibility. That is the only way the assembly will work.

It's not a matter of what can I get out of the assembly. It's what can I bring to it? What can I be in it? And that is another distinction between our homes, we were bringing out that yesterday, between our homes and between the assembly. There are people that sometimes think that, you know, well, the assembly really is, it should be no different than my house and I can act that way in my house and I'll act that way this way.

I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'll talk this way. I'll dress this way.

I'll act this way. And they have failed to see the distinction and the dignity of what the assembly is by the presence of the Lord in the midst of His people. We looked at one difference yesterday, even in 1 Corinthians 11, as the Apostle Paul writes to them, because they were taking the Lord's Supper and turning it into a common meal.

And he says, what? Have you not houses to eat and drink in? When you come together, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. This is not while you're coming together. This is not something secular that you do every day and three times a day.

This is something sacred that you do once a week. And when you come together, it is the Lord's Supper. And the idea there is that it is the Lordly Supper.

That the Supper takes character from the Lord. That's one distinction. There's other distinctions.

Your house. Your house alone. We stock our houses, we stock our pantries, and we have a store so that we go home to get.

We go home to get. So that everything's ready. You want to make a meal, you want to enjoy this, you put your feet up, and you do it.

This is your house. And you go there so that you can get, you have everything arranged, and so on, right? When you come to the house of God, and I'm using that title for assembly, when we are gathered in assembly, it's not a stockpile, it's not a warehouse, it's not something where we pull stuff off the shelves that's kind of been there, and we're ready to fix it. No, no.

It's something where we bring what we have already prepared. So there's a distinction there. There's a number of other ones, too, and we'll go over those in the nights to come.

I remember, I told this story, and John will remember this, but I remember, Brian Crawford, he's known as some of the Christians here, we were going back to restrictions, and how it's not our house, and how we can't do what we want to do. It's really what we want to do, because it is the auspices of the kingdom, the government of God, it's under his government. And Brian and I were traveling, we were crossing the border one time, and in fact, we were going to have meetings at Marion, and Brian says, I always get stopped, I always get stopped.

He says, I don't know why, but I said, look, I'll drive, I'll get us through, don't worry. I'm American. So we go up to the border, and they ask us questions, and I started telling them, and they said, well, what are you going to do? And I said, oh, we're going to do, I said, we're going to meet some friends, I said, we're going to also do whatever, we're going to meet with this church, I said, in Marion, Iowa, and he says, oh, what are you going to do there? And I said, well, you know, whatever they want us to do, really, kind of, I said, if they want us to move chairs, we'll move chairs, if they want us to preach, we'll preach.

I said, whatever work they have for us. He says, oh, that's great, okay, wonderful. He says, here's a slip, go inside.

I was like, what did I do? Well, I learned later on that it was the one word I said, work. Don't use the word work, because that's a flag. So we went inside, we're sitting there for about a half hour, Brian is very nervous, and he's going like this, if you know Brian, and he's kind of, he says, I told you, I told you, I said, just be quiet, just be quiet.

So we, finally, he calls us over, he says, okay, he says, now remember, we're on the American side. So he looks at Brian, and he points to me, and he says, him? He says, we don't care about him. He says, he can do whatever he wants here, he's an American.

He says, you? He says, you're the one we have our eye on. So Brian gets all defensive, and he says, hey, wait a minute, he says to the immigration officer, he can't do whatever he wants here, he can't do whatever he wants, and I'm looking at him like, you know, we want to get through here, what are you doing? So I look at him, and I said, Brian, shut up. And the immigration officer turned to him, and he says, yes, Brian, shut up, like that.

The point is this, this was my country, this was my government. And I knew what my government expected of me. No, I couldn't do whatever I wanted.

There were restrictions. And the man was saying, you belong here, you know what to do. You don't belong here, and you're not familiar.

God expects us, as members under his government, to know how we should behave, to know what we should do. And the truth is, we can't do whatever we want, if an immigration officer could tell us that. How much more the God of heaven.

And so when it comes to this gathering, it is the special presence of the Lord that makes it so different, that makes it so unique. I wish I remembered that this platform was so tiny, I need to put some notes here, it's very narrow here, but let's go over the order again. For the sake of younger ones.

Saved, then baptized, then added to the fellowship of a local assembly. So the first thing is saved, because you can't do a thing for God until you're saved. You have no life in you, you have no ability to please God, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

But then comes baptism, once a person is saved, they're baptized. And by baptism, you are saying that you have died, and it's no longer you that lives, but Christ lives through you. And the life that you now live, you live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you.

So it's literally the life of the Lord Jesus Christ living through you. You've died. Your desires, your will, your rights.

People say, I have my rights. I have my rights. No, no.

No, you don't. Not as a Christian. It's all about his rights now.

It's all about his claims over you. It's all about his will for you. It's not about what you want now.

You've been bought with a price, a very high price. Therefore you ought to glorify God in your body and soul, which are his, right? You belong to him, spirit, soul, and body. What did they say of the Lord Jesus? Away with him.

That's what the world said. Away with him. We will not have this to reign over us.

And in the measure that you have him reign over you, the world will say the same to you. Away with him. We don't want this.

Because you will make him known. So if you're very friendly with the world, and if the world is very friendly with you, you need to ask yourself, am I really living a godly life? Because the Bible says, yea, they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So this special presence, omnipresence, people say, well isn't the Lord everywhere anyway? Isn't he everywhere? I mean, whether I go out there, whether I go up the street, I walk in the convenience store, I go to Walmart, I go to the feed store, the Lord is there, he's everywhere.

So what makes the assembly? How can you say he's there in a real way? I remember talking to someone, in fact they were in a denominational system, and I was trying to explain to them, because they were asking me where I went, and I tried to tell them, and I said, well we just gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ only. I said, he is our gathering center, and that's the only name we gather unto, and he took offense at that. He said, well who do you think we gather to? The devil? I said, I'm not saying that.

I said, but you do have another name. You take another name. And by taking another name, you are adding that to his name, and you are literally diminishing his authority, his supreme, singular authority.

And that goes hand-in-hand with his presence in the midst of his people. So this special presence, how does it work? Personally, I don't understand why people don't understand. I think it's very easy, really.

In fact, I'll give you an illustration. I'll give you several. But the first one is this.

You as a believer, okay, 1 Corinthians 3 says that the assembly is the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in you. So that the Spirit of God dwells in you as the temple, the assembly, and as an assembly, the Lord Jesus says he dwells in the midst of the assembly.

People say, I don't understand that. Well now you as a believer, doesn't the Spirit of God live in you? Isn't he in you in a distinct and different way than he is in the world? Right? I mean, he's everywhere. The Spirit of God is everywhere.

But in a special, unique way, he has taken up residence in your body. And he dwells in you. Not in the same way that he dwells in the world.

And that dwelling of God, in fact, actually all three persons of the Godhead are said to dwell in the believer. John chapter 14, he says, my Father will come and make his abode with you. He says, I will come and make my abode with you.

And the Spirit of God, he dwells in the believer. And that dwelling of God in you makes you a very unique vessel, a very unique person. He enables you.

He empowers you. So that you can do things that unbelievers can't do. And that the Spirit of God dwells in you, uniquely.

Different than he dwells and is in the world in his omnipresence. Israel understood it, didn't they? They understood the presence of the Lord, the special presence of the Lord. Because the God who is everywhere, and they knew that.

David wrote that. If I make my bed in Sheol, he says, God is there. If I go here, he says, God is there.

But they knew in a special way that when that cloud, when that pillar cloud that evidenced his presence was over the tabernacle, that God was uniquely among his people. In fact, they knew that too, even in the ark. They wanted to bring the ark into battle.

It represented a special presence of God. Isn't God everywhere? Sure, they knew that. Why do you read in Genesis chapter 3? That Adam and his wife, they hid from the presence of the Lord.

Didn't they know that God was everywhere? Genesis chapter 4, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Numbers chapter 14, they disobeyed God, the children of Israel. And Moses tells them, do not go up.

God is not among you. You will not win this war. Do not go up.

He's not among you. You say, well, how can you say that of a God who fills the universe? Because in a special way, his special presence that enabled them to defeat the enemy was not there. He was not with them in his administrative, authoritative, special presence.

And the Bible says, the word of God says, not only is he present, but he is in the midst. And that's important. Because you see, God is funneling down this truth.

He's distilling it down to an even greater, if I can say, a more clear truth, that not only is the Lord Jesus with his people in a special way, he's actually in the midst of his people. And that is a very significant word. When the veil was torn, was rent in half, it was rent in the midst.

It wasn't rent in the corner. When you have the midst of something, when the Bible tells you about in the midst of, it's that they're being singled out something for special attention. That it's to grab your attention so that you will look.

This is what God wants you to see. And sometimes it's even used of what things people want them to see. Remember the Lord Jesus, he set a little child in the midst of them.

They set a little child. Why? Because he was going to use that little child as an object. Listen, he was drawing the people's attention to the little child.

You remember the woman in John chapter 8, when they took her in the very act of adultery, and it says that they set her in the midst. So that they were making her an object, an example. And every eye was drawn to this woman.

And in the same way, God is saying this, I want every eye, every heart, every soul, in this assembly, drawn to the attention and attraction of the one in the midst, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the very reason for the assembly's existence. He is the gathering center.

And this is what his presence, authoritative, administrative, special, unique presence, in the midst of the assembly, gathered to his name, makes that company unique in the entirety of this world from every other company. There is no other company that can make that claim, apart from those that are found under the truth of gathering the way the New Testament says. God has given us the pattern.

I'm not saying that it's called a gospel hall, and I'm not saying it's called this and it's called that, but I am saying this. Companies of people that meet in reverential fear, and respect and obedience to the word of God, under the conditions that are set forth in the New Testament in that pattern, breaking bread once a week, elder government, acknowledging the truth of headship, the covered heads of the sisters, the uncovered heads of the men, receiving those individuals who have been baptized into the fellowship of that assembly, a fellowship that breaks bread once a week, that there is the clarity of the emblems, that there is the carrying out of New Testament truth, the apostles' doctrine. There is a divine planting.

There is a uniqueness about every such company that is found in no other gathering in the world. And my dear brother or sister, if you have failed to see that you are missing what the assembly is, you are missing what God, not this preacher on this platform, but what God wants you to see in that company, what the Spirit of God has drawn you to that company for. It's different.

The special presence of the Lord is different, number one, because of the position of the Lord. So we've said that. It's in the midst.

It's different as well. It's a special presence because of His preeminence among the people. Not just His position among the gathering, but His preeminence among the gathering.

Now listen. Yes, the Lord is everywhere. And you'll forgive my triteness in using this expression.

He is in Walmart tonight. But He is not preeminent there. He is in the world.

He is omnipresent. But He is not preeminent in the sense that He's not given the place of preeminence. The Bible says this is man's day.

The Bible makes it clear now there's the God of this age. But the Bible does also make it clear, the New Testament makes it clear that in contrast to outside there, to what is called the without, that there is a within. And in that sphere of the within, the fellowship of a local assembly gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is the beloved Son of God as Lord in the midst of His people as the preeminent one.

So there is a dignity. There is a distinction about this company that has found itself in no other company in the world. I'm not saying there aren't other companies like it.

Oh, there are. But this is the conditions. These are the criteria.

This is where He is. So because of His preeminence. So He is not preeminent while we move among unbelievers as well as individual believers who are living in sin or are not carrying out the doctrine of the Apostles' doctrine or have gathered to His name.

So He is omnipresent but different and distinct from the preeminence that He is in a local assembly. And it's different as to the purpose. That's the third reason.

The purpose of the assembly as a collective testimony to gather is to display the Word of God, the person of Christ in testimony for Him. And there are things that we can carry out that no other company can carry out nor can individuals carry out. And there's another line of distinction between what you do in your homes and how you conduct yourselves in your homes and what we do when we come together by His authority.

His commissioning. It is sanctuary of God. Temple of God.

And we have authority to carry that out. Carry out administratively His authority. You remember that the Apostle Paul, when he, in his unsaved days, he went to Damascus and he had letters in his hand.

Letters of the high priest. Letters to carry out by their authority what he was going to do, right? He had letters. That's what we do.

A little bit different. We have letters. And when we gather together, we have letters.

We have New Testament letters that are put in our hands and in our lives and in our gathering to give us, we are commissioned with divine authority of the one in the midst to carry out administration for God in a dark world as light. That is what the assembly is. That is what we are.

So obviously, if we are acting as the government of God, and I'll make some distinctions about that in one moment, but I'll make one more point. If we are acting as the government of God with Christ as Lord in the midst authorizing us, it's not a casual get-together of a few believers. It's not a matter of a few Christians just coming together to read their Bibles.

Talk about Christ. Let's talk about Jesus. It's not something that literally is brought down to ground level.

That's how the world operates. No, this is an elevated place. Can I say it? This is the headquarters of heaven on earth.

It's the White House without any scandals. Should be, at least. You know, they said of President Reagan, I know there's been some other president, I have to tell you, I take my hat off to President Reagan.

Clinton changed a lot of things. I'm not going to talk politics, but I will say this. When President Reagan was in the Oval Office, he said he would never dare take off his coat.

Wouldn't even remove his coat. For respect to the office. For what he represented.

If we came to the Assembly like that, with respect, with reverence, for what we are, for who we represent, for what we have been commissioned to do as the government of God on earth in the Assembly, recognizing the distinction from what we are when we come together even as to what we are when we're not gathered together. You are in fellowship with other believers 24-7 when it comes to the Assembly. You are in Assembly fellowship 24-7.

But there are specific times when we gather together. The gatherings of his people. And in the Old Testament, Israel recognized that.

Say what you will about them being a picture and then this is the Old Testament, but there was something. You know what those meetings were called? When they came together? Holy Convocations. Holy Convocations.

The trumpet was blown. And they came. There was something important going to happen.

There were feasts and they came. God was among them. Jehovah reigned.

And when they came, there was a hush about the people. There were times you read of when the people came together to hear the voice of God. And whether it was raining and the rain was pouring down, and they came with their little ones, and they came with the families, and there was a quietness.

They opened the Word of God. You know what they recognized? We are the people of God. This is assembly of God.

It's the congregation of God. It's not a club. You've got a lot of clubs in the world.

You've got the golf club, you've got the social clubs, you've got the chess club, you've got the soccer clubs. This is not a club. It is the congregation of God.

Gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Uniquely. Singularly.

This is not to be our plaything. This is not to be our casual coming. This is the truth that the Lord is in the midst of His people.

His special presence. Now, when we look at these three points, let's just go through them. Its existence is relational to the one in the midst.

I remember a number of years ago, I don't think I've ever told this story, but we were talking about our kids tonight and it reminded me again of it. I remember when they were little, we actually, I remember the two boys and the girl, actually my oldest boy and my daughter were in the living room. And they were in there.

And my one, the middle boy, he started to go outside. He was going to go out and play. And so, as he was going out, he said to my other son, he says, hey Michael, do you want to come out and play? So Michael says, no Matthew.

He says, will you join us? These are little kids. And they had a little, like a little piece of bread. And they had some grape juice there.

Megan had some kind of covering on her head. I don't know what it was. It might have been a doily or something.

I don't know what it was. But anyway, she had this. And so they're there.

And Matthew, now he's looking. He wants to go out and play. And he looks at them.

And Michael, would you join us? And he says, I'm going to go out and play. So Michael says, you have made a foolish choice, Matthew. Just like that.

And Matthew stopped. And it was almost like he was like a thunderbolt was going to come down and hit him. And then he says, okay.

And he joined them. It wasn't five minutes later, they were all outside playing. You know what they were doing? They were not only playing outside, they were playing inside too.

They were playing church. And the thing is this, that neither the threats nor the theatrics were going to hold that little group together. Once they thought of things that were more important, more fun, more entertaining, they disbanded and left.

Because they were just playing church. It's sad when there are Christians that come into the fellowship of an assembly and they're just playing church. Or they don't realize what they have come into.

Because you see, those are the ones that in the end, when something more entertaining, and they're always looking for something more. They're always looking for something more. Because they've never seen the highest thing they can see.

And they'll leave. And they'll go. And I know there are people that have been injured.

And there have been people that have been hurt. And I am not excusing that. That is a terrible thing.

It's a terrible thing when God's people are mistreated in the assembly. Either by other believers, or leadership, or whatever. But if people leave God's assembly over personal altercations, listen, what is holding me here is not you.

By the grace of God, what is holding me here is Christ, is the Lord Jesus. And if you do not see Him as the reason for being here, you will always be looking for something more. And you will always leave for something less.

Its existence is relational. The first mention of the local church here in Matthew 18 is interesting too. Because it has absolutely nothing to do with the world.

Nothing. This is an assembly matter here. And so again, we're reminded that this is something that only the assembly can do.

People say, Matthew 18, that's all about discipline. That has nothing to do with... What do you mean, has nothing to do with what? It has everything to do with the assembly. His presence here is vital for what they're going to do.

His presence here sanctions what they're going to do. His presence here, it would be hard to say, why would individuals say, well, He's only here for this and He's not there for anything else? It's a ridiculous statement, really. The Lord Jesus is expressing extreme interest in the affairs of His people.

And He is also expressing extreme authority over the affairs of His people. And so we have here that this has nothing to do with the world. It has to do with discipline.

It can only be carried out by the assembly. And the other side of it is this. It can only be carried out by someone who is in the assembly.

It can only be carried out on someone who is in the assembly. So there is a distinction. In other words, let's just say there were a group of Christians and it was some campus somewhere.

And a number of young Christians, they were reading their Bible or maybe a high school or something. And the Christians are reading, because this has happened. I've heard people say this.

And they're discussing the Scriptures and they're having a good time and they say, isn't this great? This is what the Lord meant. Where two or three are gathered together. He's here.

He's in the midst of us. No, that is not what the Lord meant there. Absolutely not.

Because if any of those believers were to tell me that they had been involved in some sin that would require discipline, like we have here in Matthew 18, how could you even have Matthew 18 in that situation? If someone had said, you know what, I get drunk every Friday night. I would say that's a terrible testimony. You should not be doing that as a Christian.

That's sin. But I would have absolutely no authority to do anything about them. Because there is no fellowship that has been bonded and banded together with the authority of Christ in the midst.

Therefore, there is no authority for that company to break bread and carry out the Lord's Supper. There is no authority for that company to exhibit the truth of headship as the Apostle Paul teaches in the Corinthian epistle when he says several times, when you come together. There is no authority for that company on that campus or that high school or wherever to display that authority that says when the Apostle writes about a man who comes into the church and views and it says this, he comes among you, he says, if therefore the whole church be gathered together, become together, and there come in among you one who is unlearned or unbeliever.

And he sees this testimony in operation. And he witnesses. He is convicted.

He is awakened. It's the whole church coming together. When you are gathered together, when you come together, that is not a group of young people or a group of older people or a group of men or a group of women coming together under the authority of the Lord Jesus.

They cannot carry out anything. They cannot break bread. So that when you read, that is what is meant by worship being in spirit and in truth.

Carrying out obedience to the Word of God. Tomorrow night, Lord willing, I want to take up the subject of the fellowship. And this hinges on that.

The fellowship is an agreement. An agreement together on what you are doing based upon obedience to the Scriptures. So, when you have this word, where two or three are gathered together, it literally is, it means you've been acted upon.

You've been gathered. The Spirit of God has gathered you. And this word that is used there is used, it's interesting, of numerous meetings of the assembly.

It's used in Acts chapter 20 and verse 7 for the breaking of bread. That's the exact same word for the breaking of bread. It's used in Acts chapter 4 and verse 31 of the prayer meeting.

It's used in chapter 11 and verse 26 of the teaching meeting or the ministry meeting. It's used in chapter 15 and verse 30 of Acts of a Bible reading. It's used in chapter 15 and verse 6 of an elders meeting that is coming together to discuss the affairs of the assembly.

So, the same exact word, where two or three are gathered together. It's used of a missionary meeting in Acts chapter 14 and verse 27. It's used of a discipline meeting.

Equally of all those meetings, it is used. The same word in Matthew 18, same word that is used later on in a discipline meeting, same word that is used in the breaking of bread. It is showing the divine authority and the special presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of His people.

So that it's the pull of the Spirit. It's the preeminence of the Son. It's the priority of the Scriptures that are all given to us here.

The problem is that we live in a day of options. Options. We live in a day where people say, you know, I don't really want to do that.

That's kind of narrow. I think if you put yourself in a mold like this, you really can't experience the freedom of the Spirit. Well, this is the mold.

In fact, that's an interesting word. That's actually the word that the New Testament gives us. A mold of doctrine.

And the mold is given to us, and this doctrine is given to us in two ways. We have been poured into a mold of doctrine, Romans chapter 6, and that doctrine has been put into us, too. Put into our hands.

Whose assembly is it? Who's the one in the midst? Who are we gathering unto? And the Lord Jesus Himself said, they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. There are companies that want to worship in spirit, and they'll put their spirits behind it. And there's an energy there, and there's a vibrancy there.

And I have to say, in a sense, sometimes shame on us. We're dead. We're pretty lifeless.

I mean, you have to squeeze sometimes just to get an amen out of people. Don't hold back. Don't give me any amens.

Hold back. And sometimes we're all truth, and we want truth. And truth is a tremendous thing, important thing.

But why are we not rejoicing in the truth? Why is there not an exuberance in the fact that what we have is the truth of God, and that what we're practicing for, we make no apologies for? Maybe that's why we happen to see so few people drawn. There are real believers out there. And sometimes we're a pretty pitiful display of people who have the truth.

Yes, we recognize that the presence of the Lord Jesus is in the midst of us. That is something to rejoice over. That is an inestimable privilege and honor.

That is a tremendous dignity he carries with it. And if that reality was convicted in our souls, there are people that say, well, you know we have to dress down, and we have to do this, so that the world will be more comfortable among us. They want to show people that we're normal.

You know what normal is? Normal to the world. Normal in the world is lost. That's what normal is.

You want to be normal? You want to show the world out there that you're normal? Show the world out there that you belong to him. Show the world out there that you have realized that this world is not worth living for. Show the world out there that you realize that in your heart and soul there is a reality about the truth of God that you have been given to be able to remember the Lord Jesus, to have testimony for him, to actually be part of the government of God in a local assembly, and that you are the administrative point in this world for God.

That's something to rejoice over. That's something to have a testimony about. A distinction and a distinctiveness.

We live in a day of options. So you drive down the road and you see that billboard that says on the church building, Come Worship With Us. And you say, I can't.

I can't. Because that's not in truth. You have a name.

You have a man. You don't have headship. You don't remember the Lord the right way.

You don't... You say, but they're happy. They seem to be really happy. You know what? There's a lot of happy people on that road right there.

There's a lot of happy people on the way to hell. Happiness is in the criteria. A billboard outside that says Come Worship With Us.

You know what? There has to be... How can you join in with something that does not have a scriptural right to exist? How can you... Now, if you have seen this truth, if you haven't seen it, you have no problem doing this. And you can go any place you want. In fact, there are some believers, sadly, that are in assembly fellowship, and you can pluck them and pop them into a denominational circle, and they would be just as happy.

Because they've never recognized the uniqueness of the assembly. They've never seen the one in the midst, really. To them, it's just a church.

This is my church. They have their church. This is my church.

And you know what? I see that sign, and I see that people. I can go there. I can do this.

They're having a special supper. They're having a special guest speaker. They're having a band come.

And I love music. So I can go there. I'm going to go there because I just love music.

And you know what? They're saying it's worship. Yes, do you know that? They actually classify some of these things, whether it's southern gospel or whatever. I like the music.

I'm not saying that. But they will tout it. They will present it that this is worship.

Come worship with us. The Lord Jesus said, they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. I didn't say that.

He said it. You know what the core of worship is? Obedience. You have worship here and you have obedience in the center.

You take obedience out of that, you have taken out the heart. It's like removing your heart. It is the core of worship.

That is why the prophet said to obey is better than sacrifice. And that's why the Lord Jesus said before he was going back to heaven in John 14, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So its emphasis is scriptural.

I'm not going to go over time too much tonight. I will just say I've already gone over time. I want to end with that just simply to say that its evidence is practical as well.

Its evidence is practical. I have a friend, a good friend back in Canada. He was saved from the outside.

I never forget when he told me his testimony when he came into the assembly. He said, you know Frank, he said, I didn't want a place with a facelift. Maybe I'll try to explain what he meant.

He said there were so many places out there. He says, I saw this and I saw that. He said, I didn't want, he said, I wanted reality.

He said, I wanted that first in salvation and I got it. He said, but there were some of the Christians, he said, they were sincere in the assembly. And they were trying to actually use the language and use the vernacular and they were trying to actually make him feel comfortable and kind of just, you know, and what they were doing, they were literally dummying down the assembly in a sense that was reducing it.

And you know what he said? He said this to me. He says, I wasn't looking, what they were doing was, I wasn't looking for a place with a facelift, you know, that just had a better smile than the other place or a little bit better. He said, no, no.

He said, I wanted reality. I longed for that. I longed for what this book had.

I longed for the reverence of the true God and of obedience to his word. He said, that's what my heart longed for. Is it simply kindness? Is that what we think is going to attract? Listen, the unsaved people can be kind.

Very kind. There's unsaved people out there that are kinder than me. They'll put me to shame in kindness.

But I think it's very significant. I will just end with this. And I mean it now.

That when that man, the man that is used to see the presence of the Lord in the midst of his people is not found in the Philippian epistle. You would think, that's the epistle of joy. He's not found in the Ephesian epistle.

That's the epistle of high, elevated, lofty truth. He's found in the Corinthian epistle. And he comes into a company of haves and have-nots, of people that have taken others to court.

You say, love? Love was lacking in Corinth. That's the place he comes to. That's the example that the Apostle Paul uses.

And he says this. He is convicted of all. And thus, falling down on his face, he will acknowledge that he will worship God and report that God is among you of a truth.

You know what he saw? He saw what the Corinthians themselves didn't see. And the Spirit of God is using this man, this unlearned man, that comes in and sees, sees the heart of what God's assembly really is. The dignity.

The reverence. The heart. God is among you of a truth.

Adoration was there. Confession was there. Conviction was there.

And submission was there. He falls down on his face. You know what a man who falls down on his face is saying? I am nothing.

He is everything. That's what our attitude needs to be when we come to the assembly. He is everything.

It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about Him.

It's all about the Lord. Take Him away from the assembly and you have nothing but a carcass. Something hollow.

Without power. Without energy. Without purpose.

But when we see the Lord in the midst, there will be a dignity. There must be, should be a response. It is all about Him.

So that I will come in a way that is becoming and appropriate for the Lord of the universe who is my Lord, who is the Lord of His people. That's the special presence in God's assembly. May God help us to see Him and act accordingly.

Let's pray. Father, we bow again before Thee and we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus. We thank Thee for so much He paid for us, O God.

He went all the way to that cross to have such rotten, terrible treatment exacted upon Him. To have reproach, to have suffering such as no other human being has ever experienced and how it is heightened and magnified by the fact that He is God manifested in flesh. But this is the one who has called us unto Himself.

And this is the one that we gather unto. And our Father, as we think of Him, He is made higher than the heavens. He is the Lord of glory.

And we just pray, O God, that tonight what we have tried to communicate to Thy people might be heard and taken hold of. Pray, Lord, that it might attract us, it might affect us, it might direct us in such a way that we will recognize that this gathering is unique to any gathering on earth. And it is the highest and holiest and loftiest gathering of any collective company in existence.

We ask these things tonight, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.